Not all art can be around forever — and, yet, can still live

Published 12:00 am, Saturday, March 3, 2018

Photo: Courtesy Louis Escareno /Courtesy Louis Escareno

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Two of the three large-scale murals of iconic U.S. Latino figures adorned the now-closed Estelas Mexican Restaurant on the city’s West Side. They have been erased by the buildings new owner, Delgado Funeral Home. Featured here are Tejano star Selena Quintanilla; and and longtime U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez. Not shown is a mural of Grammy Award-winning musician Flaco Jimenez. less

Two of the three large-scale murals of iconic U.S. Latino figures adorned the now-closed Estelas Mexican Restaurant on the city’s West Side. They have been erased by the buildings new owner, Delgado Funeral ... more

Photo: Courtesy Louis Escareno /Courtesy Louis Escareno

Not all art can be around forever — and, yet, can still live

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In San Antonio, murals have become a big deal.

Art that looms on walls shouts, and San Antonio’s West Side has a treasure trove of beautiful murals. The pictures are big because the message is big, and that message is that there is a lot going on here — and there always has been.

But in the course of everyday life, the spirit behind big pieces of art can get blurry. Big can sometimes become inconvenient, and even though we don’t want to forget where we came from, we can’t always take everything with us if we’re working to move ahead. As things change, art sometimes falls out of place. And, sometimes, it disappears altogether.

Such was the case of the former wall art at the former Estela’s Mexican Restaurant, as the Express-News’ Elaine Ayala reported last week.

Estela’s was a West Side neighborhood taqueria big enough to hold a small quinceañera, the kind where newcomers could expect to find their favorites and where the regulars who couldn’t have tacos could order avena instead of oatmeal. Trios played on Saturdays, and mariachis played on Sundays. It sat on West Martin, around the corner from the beautiful Escobedo Creamery building and a short drive from downtown. A big building equipped with a stage, plenty of tables and lots of parking, it became a gathering space that stood out in a neighborhood where fences frame front yards and former residences house small businesses.

At some point, large murals — not necessarily portraits so much as close-ups of faces probably inspired by photographs — went up on the walls.

One was of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla Perez, and another was of Conjunto giant Leonardo “Flaco” Jimenez. The third was of U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, and he reportedly signed that one.

Considering that this was a place where the predominantly Mexican-American residents of the surrounding community gathered to break bread, organize politically and mark big events in their lives, it makes sense that those Mexican-American faces loomed large on those walls as an expression of what was going on within them.

Then, at the end of January, Estela’s Mexican Restaurant closed its doors. The building was sold to Delgado Funeral Home, and the murals disappeared behind a fresh coat of paint. There was an effort to preserve the murals, but according to Ayala’s report, the new owners are having to remodel the place quickly so they can move in by May.

The paint job is understandable, especially since there is probably no easy, affordable or timely way to have removed the artwork from the walls. Besides, photographs exist of the murals, so it isn’t as if they’re gone and forgotten. Most important, however, is that while the faces on the walls of Estela’s are gone — just like the restaurant is gone — plenty of artists are still around, waiting to tell their — our — stories on walls.

Those three faces served a purpose on the walls of Estela’s, and now those walls will serve another purpose.

Henry B., Selena and Flaco aren’t gone and certainly not forgotten, considering they are iconic in San Antonio’s story. They’ll keep making appearances in local art, along with the new faces that will inspire us in new, vivid directions.

All this isn’t to say that art should be temporary. But some art serves its purpose and, as time moves on, is replaced by art in another form, appearing in the places where we need it most.

Murals tell the story and tell it loud, but we can’t keep everything forever. As in everything else, conservation shouldn’t be confused with hoarding.